The Steel Guitar Forum

Sounds great, Cliff!

She is so great. I love her playing and tone. She has such a deep feel. Thanks for posting this!

Susan, I love this! So rich with sounds. Thank you for continuing to push the steel into new and exciting contexts. It's so great to hear you in this ensemble!

That's so cool, Bob. I'm sure it'll be a really special day. Congrats!

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I was truly surprised and honored to be included in the program with some of my heroes! There's definitely no shortage of amazing modern players they could have featured! Bob, after reading your comment I did some googling. Wow, it's safe to say you wrote the book...

My apologies if someone already posted this, as it's from last month, but it was really great. Not exactly a history so much as a sampling of some modern players as well as a dive into the world Sacred Steel. I was really honored that my group, Sandcatchers, got a short feature at the beginning too....

My apologies if someone already posted this, as it's from last month, but it was really great. Not exactly a history so much as a sampling of some modern players as well as a dive into the world Sacred Steel. I was really honored that my group, Sandcatchers, got a short feature at the beginning too....

Hi Gene,

That's actually what I did for this piece. My tuning was EADEGBDE. My usual tuning is GACEGBDE. The 4ths definitely made it easier but I was just playing the A and D strings open.

Thanks for the kind words, Andy! Means a lot.

David, that's exactly what I'm talking about! Thanks for sharing the video. I love that style f playing.

Aloha Tom, you're right, Chet never did any klezmer (as far as I know). What I meant was that I hope to one day be able to play bass lines at the the same time as melody lines in the style that Chet did, but on steel.

Thanks for the kind words everyone! And thanks for listening. Bill Hatcher, as for a looper, I've played around with them a bit but never got too far. Part of what excites me about these types of arrangements is the challenge of playing the bass at the same time as the melodic lines. I know it's lim...

Mike, this looks great! I can't wait to check it out!!

I've been exploring klezmer music on the steel for a while. I love that music so much and am really interested in finding ways to make it sing on the strings. Here's a version of the classic tune, Odessa Bulgarish I played at a neighborhood concert last week. A sort of Semitic Steel, if you will ;-)...

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this meditation track I made featuring 7 steel tracks, 1 bass and two singers. There's lots of ebowing and subtle chimes. The steel is such a great instrument to send people to places of calm. If you check it out, let me know what you think! https://mykfreedman.bandcam...

Live at the Montreux Jazz Fest.

So great to hear him stretch out so much! So funky!

https://youtu.be/-7N5Jjcvmmk

Hi friends, I've been working on a project inspired by the electrifying sounds of the psychedelic era. Especially the feedback, intense whammying and gestural playing of Hendrix. Here's a short piece I played with a great bass player, Chris Ball, just before the pandemic hit. If you're inclined towa...

This is so great. I love Sacred Steel so much. Thanks for posting the link.

Thanks, Mike! I have fond memories of that night at Cheryl's in Brooklyn when we did the two steels version with you sitting in. That was great fun!

Thanks for the kind words, Joe! I'm really into hearing the steel in less traditional settings too. It can blend so well. And when it needs to speak out it's such an exciting sound! I was using a custom Fouke 8 string and a ZT amp. I was really impressed with how well the ZT worked in small settings...

I love this on many levels! Great stuff, Sean.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share this video from last year of a group I play lap steel in called the Sandcatchers. It's a pretty interesting mix: oud, lap steel, double bass and drums. Here we we're at the end of a great tour. If you take a listen, please let me know what you think! https://youtu...

The Sandcatchers features a front line of lap steel, oud and cello, backed up by bass and drums. It's a group that explores different folk realms. https://sandcatchers.bandcamp.com/album/what-we-found-along-the-way https://open.spotify.com/album/5uOyyMYghCS6anjfWipFGI If you check it out, let me kno...

Thanks for the kind words, Mike, Guy and Aaron. And for all the links, everyone. I'm gonna have to work on my version of Donna Lee!

Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the video and for sharing your thoughts. Lot's to think about. As the arpeggios are starting to feel more natural I'm beginning to work on a system to play scales in this manner. Oddly, as Andy was writing about playing the wholetone scale I was practicing that ...